The World is Quiet Here
by Hey Vixen
Summary: Ella's eldest daughter, Delilah, is visiting Ayortha for a year so that she may become Queen. Can she deal with Ayorthian's quiet ways? Will her tounge wither from disuse forever? Or will she simply have to find some time to spend with the vivacious Emlyn
1. Chapter 1

The rustling of the leaves on the gravel blended in harmony with the grasshopper's quiet twitters as the dusk settled on the horizon of the warm august day.

Delilah grasped her pale silken dress in attempts to hold it over the dusty grass as she barely contained the urge to run. Head held high, she marched boldly on with nothing but the faint sounds of leaves falling as her company. She knew her shoes would get horribly scratched if she continued this way, but she didn't care.

_I'm going to get there if it is the last thing I do. _

...

Emlyn stole a sleepy glance about the room. His light hair ruffled surreptitiously, he raised his head from the table as his mother scolded him silently with a shrewd glare. He knew she would be angry for his 'disregard to the royal family and court affairs'. Too bad he was not interested in High Chancellor Aymon droning on and on about new political viewpoints and taxpayers values. Just about to rest his head on the crisp new doublet his mother had gotten for the occasion, his eyes caught a flash of color streak past.

"...and so, with the royal permission of beautiful Queen, I would like to announce the next High Chancellor of our illustrious country Ayortha, in which we have upheld traditions..."

As the High Chancellor continued, Emlyn excused himself from the gallery, and quickly stole away from the stiff affairs to see a maiden running through the corridors, searching frantically.

"Hello?" The fair maiden turned quickly, her hair rumpled and falling out of the neat bun, she looked a bit of a beautiful mess.

"May I help you, sire?" Emlyn contained a chuckle. Twas not him who seemed to be needing assistance.

"You looked as though you were lost, fair maiden. I thought perhaps I could help you find your way." These words amazed Emlyn even as they flowed from his mouth. His usual response would be around the lines of "You look completely filthy, slave-girl. Where is your master, wench?"

"Not all those who wander are lost, sire." She was enchanting as she turned and ran away, leaving behind her a trail of flowery scent. Emlyn contemplated following her but after a fashion, he turned slowly and walked back to the ballroom.

The look his mother cast him was not a friendly one as she stood proudly with Emlyn's brother Faolan as he was pronounced by the stuffy High Chancellor Aymon-

"High Chancellor Faolan!" High Chancellor Aymon declared loudly as Faolan beamed brightly.

"Bloody hell..." Emlyn cursed. His mother shook her head disapprovingly as the whole court turned to look at the young man.

"...bloody good job." He lamented, blushing heavily. Faolan didn't seem to notice.

"Now where did that enchanting maiden run off to?"

...

Where indeed, did that maiden run off to? We shall now resume our story with the young Delilah who had caught the attention of the new High Chancellor's young brother. This is also the maiden whom had run nearly two miles in her spectacular dress so that now, with her hair all a mess and her dress rumpled, she dashed into court.

"Pardon, Your Grace, I was simply..."

A pale hand extended from behind a black silken curtain that wrapped around a decorated throne. Delilah fell immediately silent. The hand behind the curtain made a few simple gestures to a stern looking general, who seemed to understand completely.

"Your pardon is excusable, under Your Grace's impending patience. Let your tardiness not intrude upon court affairs any longer." The general gestured to an empty seat closest to the hidden throne. Delilah obeyed and sat, though she knew that she would be bored for the next few hours and then reprimanded fiercely for her late arrival.

Delilah sighed. She wished she was back in Kyrria.


	2. Chapter 2

The pages of her fairy book turned rapidly, as Ella searched for any sign of her eldest daughter.

"Oh, Ella, be calm. She's sure to be fine." Mandy reprimanded, her silly curly grey hair tossing about as she shook her head.

"But I want proof Mandy, Something I can see- ah ha! Here's a portrait." Indeed, the fairy book revealed a portrait of a rather sodden-looking maiden, running into the court of Ayortha.

"Oh dear." Mandy sighed, "It does seem that she got herself into quite a predicament. She's her mother's daughter through and through." Ella gave Mandy a silly look before she glanced back down at the page.

"And look! A journal entry, although, it's doesn't seem like her handwriting..." Ella's voice trailed off as she read what was on the page-

_Faolan became High Chancellor of Ayortha today. Mother forced me to go, and it was quite a boring assembly. As Ayorthaian councils go, they are usually quiet, and yet somehow, it seemed that Aymon could not stop speaking for fear of losing his voice entirely._

_I tire of Mother's ramblings of how proud she is of her son, _

_(while giving me dirty looks from across the dinner table of course)._

The journal entry went quite in this fashion, (he seemed to be critiquing every one of his family members) when-abruptly, it seemed- the whole demeanor of the entry took another turn-

_While attempting to sleep through my brother's inauguration, i was disturbed by a sound in the hallway and went to find out the source._

_And, oh, the source._

_She was the most radiant, beautiful creature that I had ever met._

_(granted, her hair was a mess and she looked as though she had trampled through a mud patch, but still)_

_Her emerald eyes held me captivated until I felt as though my lips wouldn't move for fear of saying something insanely stupid. Her flowery scent tortured me but before I could contemplate these things, she left._

_And I didn't even ask her name._

"Well," said Mandy, who had been reading over Ella's shoulder, "I suppose her tardiness won her another suitor. I hope she won't reject him as badly as she did the last one."

"Oh, come now, Mandy. She said he merely tripped over the castle wall and into the tomato seller's cart." Ella laughed as a young servant ran into the elegant chamber.

"Pardon, Your Majesty, but Mandy is needed in the kitchen immediately. Apparently there has been an explosion due to the over-cooking of a roly-poly pudding."

"Go ahead, Mandy. Char should be coming up soon." Ella undressed quietly and got into her nightdress, smiling to herself about Delilah's new suitor, who seemed quite critical of everything but himself and Delilah. She chuckled. It wasn't going to be long till this one fell in a tomato seller's cart.


	3. Chapter 3

"Princess! Princess!" A young maiden exclaimed, trying to catch Delilah's drifting attention as she walked past the exotic birds in a daze.

"Cordelia!" Delilah curtsied and smiled at the daughter of Areida, her mother's dearest friend, "What are you doing at the royal menagerie?" _So like the one at home._

_"_Oh Princess, I am the exotic birds keeper. Your mother loved them so. You know, you look so like her. And your father as well, those freckles sprinkled across your nose is his no doubt. Although I haven't seen you or Echarmont in years."

"Call me Delilah." _I miss them. _"And how is Areida and Cyril?"

"Oh, mother is fine. Would you like to see them? They would be so happy for you to join at our dinner tonight."

"It is always a pleasure to dine with you." _Damn the court affairs! _"But perhaps another night? The Ayorthaian courts are very strict on formal dinners."

"That doesn't sound much like the Delilah I used to play with." Cordelia smiled cheekily.

"Excuse me, miss, but do you know about this bird?" Someone called from the exotic bird's cages.

"Duty awaits, Princess." Cordelia curtsied and hurried off to answer the guest's questions.

"It's Delilah!" She yelled to no avail. Delilah continued her stagnant disinterest at the beautiful, strange flowers of Ayortha. She soon regretted declining Cordelia's offer, as this conversation was the most she had had all week. _Except with the strange gentleman in the corridor. _She heard a voice from the distant gardens singing beautifully-

_"Oak, granite,_

_Lilies by the road,_

_Remember me?_

_I remember you."_

Delilah quickened her step towards the sound of this voice. The song was one that her father would sing to her mother, especially when she would make him laugh. He would call her 'Little Lela' and they would dance, no matter where they happened to be. The sweet memory stung at Delilah, so homesick already.

_"Clouds brushing_

_Clover hills,_

_Remember me?"_

Delilah tripped, and tore her dress, but she didn't care. She was near enough to the voice to notice it was a young man's.

_"Sister, child,_

_Grown tall,_

_Remember me?_

_I remember you."_

She peered through the hedges and saw the strange gentleman who had found her in the corridor. He had laid down on the springy grass and was swirling a flower between his fingers, singing her parent's song with such caress that Delilah's breath caught in her chest for a moment. His light, sandy-blonde hair ruffled around in the gentle breeze, it's currents taking his song to Delilah's awaiting ears.

"Emlyn?" Delilah shrunk lower into the hedges as a lovely young maiden came running up to him. The young maiden laughed surprisingly as his song stopped.

"What have you been doing? You know the wedding is soon!"

"Oh dear Syllphi, I know, I was just enjoying the breez-"

"Don't give me that!-"

"Don't worry! Everything will be taken care of." Delilah shifted slightly so that the leaves wouldn't poke her. Emlyn heard the shuffling.

"Go ahead and tell your mother not to worry." His eyes shifted to the bush, "I'll be along in a minute."

Delilah's heart started racing as she scrambled to get out of the bush and away from this Emlyn, succeeding in ripping her dress more.

_Dear Mother,_

_I have succeeded in ripping three dresses in a single day. No amount of finishing school could have prepared me for my clumsiness in foreign lands. _

_I met Cordelia, Areida's daughter, in the royal menagerie. She is the exotic bird keeper, Mother! I daresay that she has even exceeded her mother's gift for charm. _

_(and not only for the birds.)_

_Sorry that my letters have been so short. _

_The magic book is probably revealing more than I am. _

_Missing you terribly,_

_Delilah._

_p.s.- Tease Mandy a good bit for me._


	4. Chapter 4

"You're a fool."

"You're an oaf."

"Minx!"

"Blunderer!"

"GIRLS! GIRLS! We have company!" Areida soft tones admonished her daughters' bickering.

"Oh Areida, I am no more company than a strange great-aunt." Delilah said, grinning. It always felt like she was one of their family.

"Oh not strange at all, Delilah, my dear." Areida ushered Symone and Lilian out of the dining room, still quietly fighting.

"My sisters are the bravest wenches in Ayortha. To talk to such a noble Kyrrian in such a way." Fenric, the eldest son, joked.

"Oh, not so noble, Fenric, for just yesterday, I was not a noble at all, but a mere gardener, scurrying about the hedges of my master's menagerie, succeeding in ripping my dress beyond repair." _Just to listen to a stranger sing._

"Well, I don't doubt it Delilah. You always did have a green thumb."

"And a pair of clumsy feet." Everyone laughed goodheartedly.

"Dinner is served." Areida smiled pleasantly at her dinner guest.

"So, Delilah," Bevaun, the second eldest son, spoke through an extra helping of mashed potatoes, "How fares your visit in Ayortha?"

"Well, quite truthfully, I miss Kyrria, but I'm so excited to go to one of your sings! Isn't the next one coming up soon?"

"The next one is tomorrow night I thought." Lola, the youngest girl replied, her voice squeaking with excitement.

"I _believe_, Lola. And it's not tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow." Symone replied, having finished her feud with Lilian.

"Would you like to come with us, Delilah?" Cyril, Areida's husband, requested, his eyes shining.

"YE- I mean, I believe that would be lovely." Delilah put on a silly face for them, making fun of her royal politeness.

Bevaun snorted into his cup of juice and the table roared with laughter.

...

_One more day till the sing. I can make it till then. _Although tried as she might, she could not help being boring during another Ayorthaian court session.

"The number of cows producing milk in Ayortha has grown steadily throughout the years..." Delilah noticed something fluttering across the hall. It had to be more interesting than this court.

"Pardon, your Majesty." Delilah excused herself from the court and strolled towards the corridor. A brightly colored piece of parchment skittered down the hall. Delilah followed it as it blew through the halls by the gusty fall wind, though she knew that she should be listening to the court's issues. A sudden violent burst of wind whipped her dark hair from the bun that held it, and blew the parchment through an open window. Delilah leaned out of the window to catch it, but it only persistently avoided her.

"May I help you, Your Highness?" Delilah turned and was met with a sneering face.

"Breck. How unlikely that you would find me here. Did you walk all the way from Jenn to scorn me?" He merely smirked, his curly blonde hair caught in the wind, making him look like some dangerous war hero.

"Of course not, Your Highness. I have royal affairs to attend to."

Liar.

"With Ayortha?"

"Royal affairs with a Kyrrian princess in an Ayorthaian court." Delilah sighed and Breck grinned, a smile that would weaken the knees of any maiden that didn't know better.

Unfortunately Delilah wasn't one of those maidens.

"Oh, how your charm has just captured me, Breck, but I must return to court. The Ayorthaian nobles must be looking for me." Delilah turned, but Breck grabbed her arm.

"You know as well as I do that the court will not miss you, Princess. Come with me."

"It would do you much better to release me, Breck." Her green eyes shot daggers at him and Breck loosed his grip for a moment, in shock. He returned his fierce grip when Delilah tried to turn away.

"Is there a problem here?" _The singing stranger! _Delilah quickly slipped out of Breck's grip.

"Why, Sir Alaric! I thought that must be you. I was thinking that we must discuss the Ayorthaian rule on traditional apparel in the court. Have you seen what High Chancellor Aymon used to wear? Ridiculous!" Delilah linked arms with the bewildered stranger and strode down the hall, only to hear Breck remark-

"We shall meet again, Your Highness." And with a bow, he was gone.

"Sir Alaric?" The singing stranger whispered.

"First name I thought of." Delilah smiled, "Thank you for helping me. What is your name, _Sir Alaric_?"

"I am Sir Emlyn of Bast, and who might you be? You do not look Ayorthaian."

"I am Princess Delilah of Kyrria."

"Your Highness." He bowed politely, and she curtsied, though she made a funny face. He didn't seem to notice.

"Please, don't bother with all those fancy titles. Call me Delilah, Sir Emlyn."

"Well then call me Emlyn. What are you doing wandering the corridors at this hour? Isn't court in session?"

"Perhaps it is." Delilah was getting bored with the conversation.

"Perhaps you would like for Sir Alaric to escort you out of here and away from these boring court sessions?" Delilah laughed, surprised.

"Lead the way, Noble Alaric."


	5. Chapter 5

"Where are we going tonight, Emlyn?"

"To see an opera."

"Oh, no. Operas are terribly boring. The quiet court would probably be better entertainme-"

"You have never been to an Ayorthaian Opera, or under one, actually."

"_Under _one?"

"Shush. Just follow me."

Delilah slipped her hand into Emlyn's as they crawled through a grate and down a long, dark passageway. He stopped suddenly and she knocked into him.

"Here." He took her hand and let her feel the ceiling. Her fingers touched the wooden planks and the metal handle to a trapdoor.

"Can I?"

"Not until the it's over. We are directly under the stage."

"How did you find this place?"

"My sister is a ballerina, and she stumbled upon this hidden place."

"What do you suppose they used this passageway for?"

"For runaways to listen to the opera?"

"For ashamed ballerinas to runaway."

"For opera murderers to escape punishment."

"For their punishing nobles to escape boring court sessions."

"That was it."

A clattering of feet resounded above them.

"I think it's starting."

"Wait here and I'll light the torch." Emlyn's jagged features were illuminated by the torchlight as he put a hand to his lips and motioned for her to sit on the bench. His long, tapering fingers grasped the torch as he listened for the Opera to start. Delilah observed him closely. She had snuck out of the court five times with him, each time he took her away to new and interesting places. They had explored the gnome caverns, the elves forest, the giant's farms, and even played in a field with some centaur foals (which reminded her of Apple, her mother's centaur). His grey eyes were filled with excitement as they heard the ballerinas take their positions. His eyes shifted towards her piercing gaze.

Emlyn noticed her look, some of his rich black hair falling into his soft grey eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Delilah stood quickly and avoided his gaze.

"Oh nothing."

Emlyn carefully put the flaming torch in it's bronze holder. The light danced across Delilah soft features as he slowly took her hand and she stood. His lips grazed hers softly as her heart began to beat erratically. She began to slowly unbutton his doublet-

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

Delilah woke with a start, as all the Ayorthaian nobles stared at her. She felt the warmth creeping up her cheeks.

"Perhaps, by your leave, you could go your the royal chamber and get some rest, Your Highness." The stern General glared at her sternly for falling asleep in court.

Delilah quickly curtsied and left. _How could I have fallen asleep!_

Aimlessly walking about the corridors, Delilah remembered last night, and how Emlyn had showed her everything in the village. A small smile passed over her face and for a moment she forgot where she was going.

"Ahh!" She shrieked, a bit too late as she fell down a rather steep set of stairs.

"Oh." She sighed, feeling her head, as it was rather bruised and dizzied by the fall. The last thing she heard before she fainted was Emlyn's voice calling out her name-

"Delilah!"


End file.
